When King Charles announced his cancer diagnosis last year, the immediate reaction from royalists and the establishment was: oh no, Prince William is completely unprepared to be king. Even people like Tina Brown were talking about William and Kate’s lack of preparedness for the “big job,” and their failure to do much of anything. Those criticisms are still percolating throughout a lot of royal coverage these days as people quite openly scorn William and Kate’s “aversion to official duties.” The Waleses are also being called out more frequently for using their kids as an excuse for why they can’t do anything. Well, now Robert Jobson has been sent out to do some kind of damage control, and Jobson basically argues that… well, at least William isn’t dancing in Montecito, and hey, we’ve got the Wales kids to look forward to.
The Royal Family and Prince William will focus on preparing Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis for their future roles within the monarchy rather than attempting to build bridges with Prince Harry, according to a royal commentator. Prince William has been stepping up his duties as the heir to the throne and on the global stage.
Royal author Robert Jobson said: “The contrast between these images of the two brothers is huge.”
Comparing the pair, he described their new roles as “one of service and one of just silliness” while speaking with Hello! Magazine. “What Harry and Meghan shared is great for clickbait, but not very good for anything else. William takes his responsibilities to the institution, to his father, to his family, very seriously. You see that in the way he looks and the way he acts. He has grown into the role of supporting his father and being a King in waiting.”
William’s support for his father, King Charles, will be seen clearly as he takes a central role in this weekend’s Trooping the Colour celebrations. The event, which will mark the official birthday celebrations of the King and will see William, his wife Princess Kate and their children be a key highlight of proceedings.
“It’s all about William now, and him preparing Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis for their future roles in the next decade or so,” the expert surmised.
Regardless, Jobson felt that the notion of Harry one day returning to royal duties alongside his brother was “pretty much over”.
“I do think that the idea of Harry ever coming back and doing anything constructive for the Royal Family is pretty much over. Not because of the twerking, but because there’s too much water under the bridge. Too many things have gone on that would be difficult to erase from the memory.”
I’m trying to remember if Charles ever billed himself as the “king in waiting” when QEII was in her 70s. While I’m sure there were many “future king” references when Charles was Prince of Wales, Charles was rarely, if ever, spoken of this way. It definitely feels like William continues to act as if he’s going to be king sooner rather than later. As for preparing the kids for their roles… that’s what the media hopes. They hope that this Wales situation works out for them long-term, that they’ll have years of covering the trials and tribulations of George, Charlotte and Louis. Given Harry’s absence, it sounds more like everyone is prepared to make the kids into William’s latest scapegoats.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.
